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Happy Birthday Chuck Norris. You are the king of all Bad A** dudes.
To celebrate, were playing this most excellent summary of Chuck’s skills today.
To enhance the Walker, Texas Ranger experience, I’ve also added the ultimate fight: Chuck Norris vs Bruce Lee.
Oh yes, note the scene at 35 seconds in. That’s some manly-man stuff.
Popularity: 2% [?]
I don’t mean to be insensitive to Farrah Fawcett, her family or any teen boy whose ever got “romantic” with her pin up, but is all this protest really necessary?
Some seem to be up in arms that Farrah was not included in the “In Memoriam” section of the Oscars on Sunday.
So the question is: did they leave her out on purpose? The answer appears to be yes. A rep for the Academy Awards has said they can’t include everyone.
I won’t try to debate whether she should, or should not have been included. She was an actress, so I think she would qualify.
Also, what about Bea Arthur, Billy Mays, Alania Reed Hall (Susan from Sesame Street), Ed McMahon, Don Hewitt (60 Minutes producer), Henry Gibson and Ricardo “Fantasy Island” Montalban!
They didn’t make the cut either. I think this is a situation where you can’t please everybody, because it’s such a subjective topic.
I say if you want to remember Farrah, go rent Logan’s Run, The Cannonball Run or the original Charlie’s Angel’s on DVD. I’m sure she’d want to be recalled for her life, rather than her death.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Rated PG – 1h48 -
It looks like Alice, but it’ missing some of the heart and some of the wonder. The film tries to make up for a lesser story with great visuals. This didn’t feel like Alice In Wonderland should have felt.
In Tim Burton’s version, Alice is a teenager. Faced with the prospect of grown up decisions, she follows the White Rabbit into the forest and falls down the rabbit hole. Believing she is having her recurring dream, Alice begins to realize she has returned to the familiar Underland, and reunited with some familiar friends. She is then charged with the quest of ending the Red Queen’s reign.
As I recall, original story is filled with characters taunting and misdirecting Alice on her way home. The imagery is dark and the ideas are a little scary. This story is seemingly happier, even with the Red Queen and her constant requests for beheadings.
What is fun about his is the cartoon-esque hallucinogenic world that Burton creates. He had help from one of the visual designers from Avatar, and Wonderland is fantastic looking.
The characters, some old, some new, seem to be there more out of a convenience. They are clever and interesting to look at, but it felt as if Alice could have made her way through without the advice of the hooka-smoking caterpillar. Isn’t he supposed to be a key player? Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter was a treat.
Another problem is Alice’s journey, which resolves in a gigantic climactic battle. Isn’t Alice on a journey of finding herself, while finding her way home? Why does she need a dragon to slay? I guess it helps pack the film with some more action.
This movie leaves you feeling like you saw something impressive, just not a better version of the story. Something is missing. By the way, the 3D format did nothing to improve on the story, and serves more as a distraction.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Rated R – 2h3 -
At the beginning of Brooklyn’s Finest, we have a snitch talking to a dirty undercover cop about truth and justice. He talks about how even the law recognizes that in some cases, committing a crime can be forgiven if it’s done for a greater good. Think of the man who steals bread to feed his starving family. That’s the idea that Brooklyn’s Finest tries to convey.
The film features three unconnected New York Police officers, who paths unknowingly cross. Tango (Don Cheadle), a deep undercover drug agent with heavy underworld connections. Eddie (Richard Gere) is just a few days from retirement and Sal (Ethan Hawke) is the drug raid cop in need of money in order to support his family.
All three are on the edge, seemingly facing situations that are more than they can handle. You don’t get the feeling that things are going to work out well for them either.
This is a solid trio of actors. They all make their case that life fighting crime can be gritty, unrewarding and takes a serious personal strain on the officer. Corruption is a slippery slope.
The thing is, we’ve seen this all before and the story gets lost in the cliché of it all.
Ethan Hawke was the notable one here. His character Sal busts up drug houses for a living. He sees untold amounts of drug money piled up like laundry, tempting him on a daily basis. Sal is also a father of several kids, has twins on the way and a wife that is ill from mold in their decrepit house. He’s the most justified for thinking about stealing the bread, and he’s the most conflicted about his strife.
Outside of Sal’s story, the film falls short of the thrilling expectations you desire from this level of acting skill.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Scene From The Hurt Locker
Really, other than one category this year, the picks are pretty clear to me.
I think it’s a toss up in the Best Actress category between Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side” and Meryl Streep in “Julie and Julia.“
Here’s the link to the Oscar ballot if you wanna play at home and below are my picks in the major categories. I’ve also included with the nominees, who will win and who I think should win. They’re not always the same.
Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker - WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Notes: There is no denying the strength, power and intensity of The Hurt Locker. It may not be the most well known of the nominations, but it stands above them all.
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart – WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
George Clooney for Up in the Air
Colin Firth for A Single Man
Morgan Freeman for Invictus
Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker
Notes: It was a tough call to rule out George Clooney’s performance of Up In The Air. The story hit home, but Jeff Bridges wins. He literally transformed into his character. Colin Firth went to the bottom of the well, showing how one’s sexual orientation had to be masked in the 1950s.
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side WILL WIN
Helen Mirren for The Last Station
Carey Mulligan for An Education
Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia SHOULD WIN
Note: This is a hard call. I didn’t really like The Blind Side, but it’s turned out to be a fan favorite. I would have watched a whole movie of Meryl Streep portraying Julia Childs.
Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon for Invictus
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
Notes: If not for Christoph Waltz as the bad guy in Inglorious, this would have been a lesser movie. Stanley Tucci also deserves credit in this category, but not for his work in The Lovely Bones. He should have been nominated for playing Julia Childs’ husband in Julie & Julia.
Best Supporting Actress
Penélope Cruz for Nine
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
Notes: Admission of guilt. As of press time, I still haven’t seen Precious. I am solely going on my fellow critics review of her work and the fan outpouring of support she’s received.
Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
James Cameron for Avatar
Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds
Notes: I giggle that James Cameron will be beat out by his ex-wife. This is a good lesson for Jason (Son of funny movie god – Ivan) Reitman. Get a couple movies under your belt and you’ll have your Oscar soon.
Best Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker: Mark Boal WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger: Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman
A Serious Man: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up: Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Thomas McCarthy
Notes: All of these movies deserve credit for their originality. They all have their own charm and special touch. All are worthy, but I would like to see Quentin Tarantino win sometime soon.
Best Animated Feature
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up – WILL WIN/ SHOULD WIN
Notes: Fantastic and The Princess and the Frog are both great examples of creative animation. Up was simply a better example.
Happy Oscaring!
Popularity: 3% [?]
We’re just a few d
ays from the Academy Awards and I’m ready to make my picks for winners.
Before I do that, I wanted to run down some gigantic tragedies that never should have been. There have been plenty of movies that get Oscar nominated but do not deserve the credit they receive.
Here’s my list of the Best Picture nominee worst offenders over the past 20 years.
2009 – Avatar – Sure it’ll do well for special effects, but the film is not otherwise Oscar worthy.
2006 -Letters To Iwo Jima - Before you get upset at this one, know that I think it was largely picked because of it’s epic war drama-ness, and the fact that Clint Eastwood directed. As a movie, I was not thrilled with the results. The Departed won this year.
2005 – Munich - Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The story of the Olympians murdered at the 1972 Munich games didn’t do them justice. Crash won this year. Good call.
2003 – Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World – Sorry Russell Crowe, this one was as long and drawn out as the title. Please Mr. Crowe, don’t hit me for saying that. Lord Of The Rings: Return of the King won this year.
2001 – Moulin Rouge - Now musical lovers are upset. Hey, I like musicals. Just not this one. A Beautiful Mind won this year.
2000 – Gladiator - Russell Crowe is really gonna be pissed now, especially since Gladiator won the award. This just wasn’t my style of movie. It was trying to be too graphic instead of deep.
1997 – Titanic – Yeesh. Need I say more? Titanic won, beating out LA. Confidential, Good Will Hunting and The Full Monty. A movie sin was committed this year.
1996 – The English Patient - It won, beating out Fargo. FARGO FOR JUMPIN’ JIMMINEY SAKE!!!!
1995 – Babe - Yes, this was that talking pig movie that was nominated. Luckily Mel Gibson from Braveheart won that year. I heard William Wallace later roasted Babe and ate him for supper.
1994 – Forrest Gump - How did this happen? Gump beat out The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction! The movie gods became angry with mankind this year.
1990 – Godfather, Part III - Way to beat a dead horse…head. Dances With Wolves won this year, but Goodfellas couldn’t have been far behind.
Popularity: 2% [?]
I have always been a Roger Ebert fan.
You’ve probably seen the photo to the right. It’s was used for Ebert’s recent Vanity Fair article. I must say I was moved by the bravery of it.
I recall staying up late on Sunday nights as a kid and sneaking into the TV room at 10:30pm , just so I could watch “At The Movies.”
Another great moment was meeting Ebert at the 4th Wisconsin Film Festival when he introduced the Beatles’ film “A Hard Day’s Night.” A less than great moment was the next day when I sat in on his screening that he hosted at the film fest and my cell phone went off. D’oh!
In any case, I was more than happy to hear him once again yesterday. Ebert has been recovering from a throat cancer that has removed his lower jaw and left him unable to speak. He was on Oprah, previewing a new computer voice technology. He took a bunch of clips from his old TV shows and built his dialogue. It’s pretty cool.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Alas poor T-Bone, I knew him well.
Really, I didn’t know T-Bone at all, but I did know the tasty bass lines he used to put down for Hall & Oates. Darryl Hall was once even quoted that bassist Tom “T-Bone” Wolk was the “&” in Hall & Oates.
He died over the weekend of a heart attack at 58. In his career, he also worked with Elvis Costello, Bette Midler, Robert Palmer, Carly Simon, Billy Joel and Avril Lavigne. He’s the only one who doesn’t dance in the “Private Eyes” video too. Wolk also played with the “Saturday Night Live” band for a good run.
The Real T-Bone Wolk
While looking at his background, I couldn’t help but notice that there are a lot of T-Bones out there. Including but not limited to:
I honor of T-Bone Wolk, here’s the Private Eyes video. He’s the only one not dancing.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Now that the games are over, it seems to me like there were a lot of significant hurdles cleared in Vancouver.
Statistically, the achievements were off the scale. Canada set a record for gold medals, the U.S. set a record for medals collected, I spent a record amount of time on the couch watching.
Still, I’m gonna try narrow down the biggest five moments for the Olympics.
If I’m looking from the perspective of a world audience, here’s how they’d go:
5. US Skier Lindesy Vonn overcoming injuries & falls, still earning medals.
4. The general errors with the games…bad snow, technical glitches, etc…
3. US Snowboarder Shaun White dominating his sport.
2. Team Canada taking the Gold in Men’s & Women’s Hockey.
1. Canadian skater Joannie Rochette taking Bronze, days after her mother dies.
If I take a U.S.-centric view of the games as to how we did…here’s how the Top 5 would go.
5. Men’s & Women’s Hockey dominating, but only taking Silver medals.
4. Evan Lyschek winning Gold in men’s skating, a first in 22 years.
3. Apollo Ohno willing a record 8 medals in one Olympics.
2. Lindsey Vonn, 1st female American to win Gold in downhill.
1. Shaun White’s unrelenting control over snowboarding.
It seems as if the rest of the world can’t produce a challenger to Shaun White in his sport. The rest of the sports listed were close calls, but not in his case.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Adam reviews the new scary movie remake: The Crazies.
Popularity: 4% [?]
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